Page 693 - Sports
De Minaur beats Simon in Sydney, sets up final with Andreas Seppi
Fifth seed Alex De Minaur of Australia on Saturday defeated Frenchman Gilles Simon in straight sets (6-3, 6-2) to advance to the final of the Sydney International tennis tournament.
Nadal nearing full fitness ahead of Australian Open
Spain's Rafael Nadal said on Saturday he was feeling healthy and approaching full fitness ahead of next week's Australian Open, after his rival, Britain's Andy Murray, announced plans to retire due to injury.
American Sandgren wins maiden ATP title in Auckland
American Tennys Sandgren lifted his first Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) title after beating Britain's Cameron Norrie 6-4, 6-2 on Saturday in the Auckland Classic final.
Liverpool's Klopp wins month's best coach award, Van Dijk named best player
Liverpool has dominated the Premier League awards for December as its German coach Jurgen Klopp earned the Manager of the Month award while the English side's Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk claimed the Player of the Month trophy.
Rayo top Celta 4-2 on De Tomas hat trick
Raul de Tomas scored three goals to power Rayo Vallecano 4-2 over Celta Vigo in a battle between two clubs trying to avoid relegation from La Liga.
China, South Korea secure place in 2019 Asian Cup 2nd round
China and South Korea have secured their places in the Asian Cup round of 16 with one group stage match to go, after defeating the Philippines 3-0 and Kyrgyzstan 1-0 in Group C.
Argentina, Czech Republic to play friendly in Germany in March
Argentina's national team will play a friendly against the Czech Republic in Dresden on March 26, Argentina's football federation (AFA) has announced.
Samper, Vermaelen begin to rejoin Barcelona group training
Barcelona's Spanish midfielder Sergi Samper and Belgian Thomas Vermaelen partly rejoined the team training in preparation for the upcoming La Liga match against Eibar, the Spanish club announced.
Kvitova eases past Sasnovich, sets up Sydney final clash vs Barty
Fifth seed Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic had to overcome a five-hour long delay due to heavy rain before routing Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus 6-1, 6-2, to advance into the Sydney International final.
Sydney ODI: Handscomb, Stoinis help Australia post 288/5
Australia posted 288/5 against India in the opening ODI of the three-match series here at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Saturday.The change of colours didn't usher in a change of fortune for Australia as the hosts lost both their openers Aaron Finch (6) and Alex Carey (24) within the first 15 overs. Finch left the gap between the bat and the pad, the ball delivered by Bhuvneshwar Kumar sneaked in to hit the off stump. The Indian pacer picked up his 100th ODI wicket in style.India had their upper hand as Kuldeep Yadav struck in his very first over. Carey, who had cut the spinner for a boundary off the previous ball, tried to repeat but got an outside edge, which Rohit Sharma caught at the first slip.As Usman Khawaja and Shaun Marsh were in the middle, the hosts reconstructed their innings well. The duo held the Australian fort to put more than 50 runs for the third wicket and brought up the 100-mark for the hosts.Khawaja registered his fifth ODI fifty off 70 balls before ending a .
Three half-centuries guide Australia to 288/5 vs India
Some fantastic middle-order batting by Australia helped them post 288/5 against India in the first ODI of the three-match rubber at the Sydney Cricket Ground here on Saturday.
Handscomb, Stoinis lift Australia to competitive 288 for 5
Peter Handscomb switched gears in time to score a fighting 73 as a collective batting effort from the middle-order steered Australia to a competitive 288 for five against India in the first One-day International, here Saturday. Usman Khawaja (59) and Shaun Marsh (54) scored half-centuries for Australia who lost skipper Aaron Finch (6) in a slow start after electing to bat. A late charge from Handscomb and Stoinis meant that the hosts scored 93 runs in the last 10 overs, 59 of them coming in the last five. They added 68 runs off 59 balls for in their fifth-wicket partnership as Handscomb delighted the home fans with eight boundaries including two sixes while Stoinis hit two fours and as many shots over the ropes. Spinners Kuldeep Yadav (2/54) and Ravindra Jadeja (1/48) shared three wickets between them while pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/66) accounted for two batsmen. Sloppy fielding from India towards the end also helped Australia as Ambati Rayudu dropped Handscomb (on 67 off ...
SCOREBOARD 1ST ODI, IND VS AUS
Scoreboard from the first One-day International between India and Australia at the SCG, here Saturday. Australia Innings: Alex Carey c R Sharma b K Yadav 24 Aaron Finch b B Kumar 6 Usman Khawaja lbw b R Jadeja 59 Shaun Marsh c M Shami b K Yadav 54 Peter Handscomb c Dhawan b B Kumar 73 Marcus Stoinis not out 47 Glenn Maxwell not out 11 Extras (B-4, LB-2, NB-2, WD-6) 14 Total (For 5 wickets in 50 overs) 288 Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-41, 3-133, 4-186, 5-254. Bowling: B Kumar 10-0-66-2, K Ahmed 8-0-55-0, M Shami 10-0-46-0, K Yadav 10-0-54-2, R Jadeja 10-0-48-1, A Rayudu 2-0-13-0.
Australia set India 289-run target to win first ODI
Electing to bat, Australia posted a challenging 288 for five against India in the first One-day International at the SCG, here Saturday. Peter Handscomb top-scored for the hosts with his 73-run knock while Usman Khwaja (59) and Shaun Marsh (54) also scored half-centuries. Marcus Stoinis remained unbeaten on 47. Spinner Kuldeep Yadav and pacer Bhuvneshar Kumar took wickets apiece for India. Brief Scores: Australia : 288 for 5 in 50 overs. (P Handscomb 73, U Khawaja 59, S Marsh 54; K Yadav 2/54, B Kumar 2/66, R Jadeja 1/48).
Kerber keeping Open expectations in check
Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber Saturday said her confidence and motivation were sky high and her form good, but she is thinking no further than round one of the opening Grand Slam of the year. Despite her reticence to look too far forward, the world number two is seen as one of the favourites for the Australian Open crown, carrying good momentum into the tournament after a stellar 2018. The 30-year-old has the experience to make another deep run at Melbourne Park, having won in 2016. "Now we have a new season coming, and the motivation is really high again," she said ahead of her first round clash with Poland's Polona Hercog. "You know, for me it's important to be going on court and trying to make the transit from my practice sessions to the match ones. "I was really working hard in the pre-season, and now I'm really looking forward to having the competition and playing matches again," added the German star. Kerber fell to world number one Simona Halep 9-7 in the third set of an .
Pound says 'not end of world' Russia missed lab testing deadline
Former WADA president Dick Pound is against imposing fresh sanctions on Russia for missing a deadline to allow World Anti-Doping Agency experts access to its Moscow laboratory. "It's not the end of the world," former WADA president told AFP on Friday. Experts began copying data at Russia'a tainted testing centre on Thursday, at the second attempt after a failed first visit in December. Moscow subsequently missed the December 31 deadline to give WADA full access to the lab data vital to implicate or clear athletes in doping cases. WADA's critics led by US anti-doping chief Travis Tygart have called for Russia to be punished anew, but Pound disagreed. "The real objective in all of this was to get access to the lab and the data, and if it's a few days late it's not the end of the world. "I think it's more important to concentrate on the information and test it to make sure that it's complete and it's not been altered and then to see if there are cases of anti-doping that need to be ...
England's 'biggest year in a generation' starts with Windies test
England begin a 2019 that England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chief executive Tom Harrison believes represents a "once in a generation" opportunity with a West Indies tour that could yet prove uncomfortably awkward. With both a World Cup -- a tournament the England men's team have never won -- and an Ashes on home soil on the horizon, it will be a challenge for England's leading cricketers in both the one-day and Test formats to maintain their focus on the challenge in front of them rather than be distracted by the bigger prizes ahead. A three-Test tour and five-match one-day series in the Caribbean, which gets underway with a warm-up fixture against a West Indies Board XI in Barbados next week, should provide a good barometer of England's progress. Joe Root's Test side are second in the world rankings, while Eoin Morgan's men top the equivalent one-day standings. By contrast, the West Indies are currently eighth in the Test table and ninth in the ODI list. England, fresh from an ...
Shy Osaka working to be more mature
US Open winner Naomi Osaka admitted on Saturday that she was naturally shy and said one of her key goals in the off-season had been to work on her confidence and become more mature. The likable 21-year-old Japanese was catapulted into the global spotlight when she won the US Open last year, beating Serena Williams, whose tantrum at the umpire in the final almost overshadowed her achievement. The breakthrough made her a new standard bearer for tennis in her homeland, Asia and the next generation of women, and she is working hard on living up to the hype. While focusing on her game during the off-season, she has also been concentrating on better dealing with the off-court responsibilities that come with being a major winner. "For me one of my biggest goals is to be more mature, like to mature as a person," she said ahead of her opening round clash at the Australian Open against Poland's Magda Linette next week. "And I feel like in a way I am, but in other parts I'm very, like, three ...
Aliss Islam claims hat-trick in BPL debut
Uncapped off-spinner Aliss Islam has become the third bowler in the history of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) to take a hat-trick.The 22-year-old finished with figures of 4/26 while playing for Dhaka Dynamites.Islam got the much-needed breakthrough for Dhaka as he broke the 121-run partnership between Rilee Rossouw and Mohammad Mithun. After sending Rossouw back for 83, his hat-trick helped restrict Rangapur to 181/9 in response to Dhaka's 183/9.In the 18th over of the game against Rangpur Riders on Friday, Islam bowled Mithun (49), while the ball to Masrafe Mortaza (0) clipped the bails and Farhad Reza (0) was caught at slip.Talking about his selection in the team, Islam, who was spotted by a Dhaka scout when he was playing first-division cricket, was quoted by ICC, as saying: "I was a net bowler for Dhaka Dynamites. While practising bowling in the nets, Shujon (Coach Khaled Mahmud) after watching me said that he believed that I could play well in the BPL and later took me to his ...
Solskjaer, Pochettino face off in Man United 'audition'
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has a golden opportunity to further his credentials for the permanent manager's job at Manchester United when he goes head to head against Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino on Sunday. The Norwegian interim manager has enjoyed a perfect start to his Old Trafford career, winning all five matches and transforming the mood among players and fans. But in the opposite dugout at Wembley will be Pochettino, who remains the favourite to be named to the United hot seat after keeping Spurs on the fringes of the Premier League title race against considerable odds. United have beaten Cardiff, Huddersfield, Bournemouth and Newcastle in the league and Reading in the FA Cup since Solskjaer replaced Jose Mourinho last month. But third-placed Tottenham in London will be a different proposition and the match will be a severe examination of how far United have come under their temporary leader. Solskjaer has revitalised a number of players including Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford, ..